Police Forces Evacuate Arab Outpost

The Judea and Samaria District of the Israeli Police evacuates the illegal Arab outpost in the area known as E1.

By Elad Benari

First Publish: 1/13/2013, 3:03 AM

Arab outpost at E1

Arutz Sheva

The Judea and Samaria District of the Israeli Police evacuated on Saturday night the illegal Arab outpost that had been set up in the area known as E1.

Large security forces who arrived in the area boarded the Palestinian Authority Arabs who were in the outpost onto buses, which will take them back to the PA-assigned areas of Judea and Samaria. IDF troops will remain in the area to ensure that no Arabs re-enter the outpost.

"We intend to carry out the evacuation without the use of force, but we will act firmly against those who take part in riots and all those who endanger security forces," a police spokesman said as the evacuation began.

Some reports indicated that at least one of the Arabs was arrested. However, the police clarified in a statement issued early Sunday morning that "there was no violence during the evacuation and no arrests were made."

The police indicated that 120 people, including approximately 25 Arab journalists, were evacuated from the outpost.

In a response it submitted to the Court asking that it rescind an injunction to delay the evacuation, the State wrote that leaving the tents that were set up at the outpost constitutes an immediate security danger and can create serious disturbances.

"It should be emphasized that the establishment of tents in the compound, given its location, is basically an act of protest and defiance which is designed to cause riots with national and international implications," the State wrote. "The vast majority of the tents were built on state-owned land and only a few were established on land that is not state land."

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu ordered security forces on Saturday to immediately evacuate the Arabs, ordering the closure of access roads to the area in order to prevent gatherings until the High Court rescinds its injunction against the evacuation of the outpost.

Arab activists set up the outpost on Friday in the area, which connects Jerusalem and Maaleh Adumim, and that was just recently opened to construction for Israelis.